"You'd Look Pretty Cute As A Cheerleader"

"Yikes, it's 7:12. I really should be heading to school right about now."

Jake had been late to school a few times this month. His hair had grown to the point that it hung down just past his shoulders, and thus required lots of brushing to look presentable. Not that it mattered, anyway. He had just moved to a big school, and it took him about a day to realize that he was about as invisible as the air he walked in. Jake continued brushing his straight, dark blonde hair, until his mom shouted:

"Sweetie! You're going to be late again, move it or lose it"

Jake hurriedly finished brushing and ran downstairs, as his mom continued:

"Don't forget your camera. Pretty hard to be a photographer without a camera."

Jake had started working for the school newspaper earlier that week. He didn't have much interest in writing as he did taking pictures, and being a wallflower meant he could easily spectate from the sidelines without much attention being drawn to himself. Jake flew out the door, grabbing his camera from the shelf as he did.

The school day was about as ordinary as you would expect it to be. During third period, Mrs. Jasmine referred to him as "miss" in the hallway after seeing him from behind, but that was not an uncommon occurrence. Jake didn't like being mistaken as a girl, but at the same time he liked having his hair long. Sometimes he thought that if he finally started going to the gym, people would see him as the man he is, but he could never build up the courage. He knew his mom hated his long hair, thinking it was too girly. She had even threatened to shave it herself if he ever came back home with a grade lower than a C, but that day hadn't come yet, thankfully. Today Jake was tasked with taking pictures of the cheer team, as they had just returned victorious from the state semifinals. He didn't quite understand how a high school cheer team can compete in a championship, but he decided not to tug on that thread any further. He had a job to do, and that was the end of it. Jake grabbed his camera from his bag, and headed for the west gymnasium where the girls were practicing.

Jake opened the door to the gym, and to no ones surprise, didn't draw any attention. The girls were in the middle of the room, doing a few stretches. Jake snapped a few photos, and watched them as they practiced their routines. As the girls were finishing up and Jake was putting his camera back in his bag, the coach approached him. 

"You ought to start putting on some weight, kid. When you walked in I thought you were gonna ask to try out!"

This caught the attention of one of the cheerleaders, who up to that point, hadn't even noticed that Jake was there. Jake made eye contact with her, and then watched as she then went over and talked to a few of the other cheerleaders, who then looked back over at him, too.

As the coach headed out the doors of the gym, that same cheerleader spoke up:

"Hey you! You get some good pictures of us?"

She asked in a way that was playful, yet stern. She was beautiful. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes. As she walked to where Jake was standing, he noticed that she was holding a bottle of red gatorade. 

"Yeah, you guys looked great. Congrats on winning semifinals, by the way."

She chuckled, "Heh, thanks. Say, I don't think I've seen you around here. I'm Jackie."

"I'm Jake, nice to meet you," Jake replied.

"You know, I can't help but notice that beautiful mane you have. A couple of the girls were wondering what your routine was"

She gestured over to touch his hair, and dumped her gatorade all over Jakes shirt. His shirt and sweatpants were soaked, and a few of the other girls rushed over.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Follow us, we'll get you cleaned up."

It didn't feel so much like a request as it did an order, and Jake's worries were solidified as a few of the other girls grabbed onto his arm and lightly began tugging him into the locker room. 

"Sit here, and we'll get you some dry clothes," Jackie ensured.

The girls sat Jake down on the bench, and Jackie disappeared around a corner. The rest of the girls immediately started running their fingers through Jake's hair.

"You know, you'd look pretty cute as a cheerleader, with those locks of yours."

Jake didn't know what to say. The whole situation was starting to make him feel uncomfortable. Jackie soon returned with something behind her back, and a huge grin on her face.

She then spoke: "It was pretty creepy of you to be taking pictures of us like that all practice. So we're gonna teach you a lesson."

Before Jake could speak, Jackie revealed a bright red cheerleading costume from behind her back. The girls then began stripping Jake down to his underwear. 

"Hey, stop, what are you doing!"

Jake was no match. After a minute or two of snuggling, he finally gave in to his fate.

"Oh my gosh, you look SO cute!" Jackie squealed.

Jake peeked over at the mirror across the locker room, and saw himself in a bright red cheerleading outfit, skirt and all.

Another girl spoke up: "Jackie, I don't think we're done with her JUST yet."

Jackie replied: "I agree, she's a bit of a fixer-upper!"

For the next ten minutes, Jake was surrounded by girls. The ones in his front were working on his makeup, while the ones in the back were working on the hair. He couldn't tell exactly what they were doing on either side, apart from the brushing and tugging he could feel from the back.

"Aaaaaand... done!" Jackie proclaimed.

The girls backed up, letting Jake see what they had done to him in the mirror. He saw a small girl staring back at him, with blush, light pink lipstick, and pigtails high on his head. Each ponytail was tied off with a red ribbon that hung down, and the loose hairs in front were pinned down with matching red clips.

"You are SO pretty, Jake"

He turned to face his captors, and was met with a bright camera flash. 

Jackie continued: "If you don't delete all the photos you took, we'll make sure everyone in school sees this."

They then grabbed his arm again, and dragged him to the doors of the gym that connected outside, and threw him out. Jake didn't have any other clothes, so he walked home, ducking behind trees and bushes whenever a car came by. He snuck in through the back undetected by his mother, and slipped into his room and cleaned himself up. He then deleted every picture from his camera he took that day. A few hours later, he heard a knock on the door.

He opened it and was shocked to see his mom; with an electric razor in one hand, and her phone in the other. Jake squinted at the phone and to his horror, saw a posted picture of him dressed in a red cheerleading outfit, and pigtails in his hair.